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No learning curve. There's a hidden cost when you upgrade users to an OS with as many significant interface changes as Windows 7: training. Windows 7 is a looker and features big improvements, especially over XP. But, after almost a decade, users know XP backwards and forwards and getting them up to speed on Windows 7 might take time your company can't afford. Even programs like WordPad and MSPaint have a new interface (the Ribbon from Microsoft Office 2007), which could make some users apoplectic.

XP updates until 2014. You might feel you have to upgrade to Windows 7 because eventually Microsoft will stop patching XP for security and other issues. And it will. But do you consider five years from now soon? If you're happy with XP (and can live without the tech support from Microsoft, which ended earlier this year), why change?

No direct XP upgrades. Think you can just pop a Windows 7 disc into a system and upgrade the OS but leave your software and data intact? Think again. Microsoft is only allowing "in-place" upgrades from VistaXP users have to format their drives and do a clean install. LapLink has an elegant solution, iYogi, for one, is offering "migration assistance" to help move data (but not programs), but either will cost you money and time to use. If you're okay with the nuke-and-boot-and-reinstall scenario, do it; why upgrade and wonder if XP is responsible for new Windows 7 problems?

New hardware needed. You've been running XP for years just fine on computers that were the top of the line in 2001. The chances of them supporting Windows 7 are slim. We're not talking just upgrading a couple of componentsit's going to be time to get all-new systems, which can be costly, even if computers are cheaper today. Remember, at the very least, you need 1GB of RAM and 16GB of disk space just to install the 32-bit version of Windows 7. You need even more RAM and disk space to go 64-bit or to run XP Mode. Furthermore, installation from disc requires a DVD drive. You can get around that requirement, however, by copying the files to a bootable USB flash drive; instructions are available online in various places, including here. Slipstreaming the install on to a USB drive has the added bonus of giving you the same Windows 7 image to put on all the company computers.

The advances coming out of Windows 7 may be more evolution than revolution, but that doesn't mean they're not great for your company if you've got the right equipment, and the money to buy it, and users capable of handling the change. If so, take the plunge. You'll likely find the upgraded OS has an interface, security, search, and more to like. But if you don't like it, be sure to let us know.

Eric narrowly averted a career in food service when he began in tech publishing at Ziff-Davis over 20 years ago. He was on the founding staff of Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine (all defunct, and it's not his fault). He's the author of two novels, BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale"--Publishers' Weekly) and KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. He works from his home in Ithaca, NY.
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